Use quotes to search for an exact word or phrase

 "antique fishing lures"

This function searches an exact text string.  Putting quotes around a single word search eliminates results containing word variations.

 Exclude a word

 -metal

 Placing a minus sign in front of a word or quoted phrase excludes search results containing that word or phrase.  Multiple words or phrases can be excluded in a given search.

Search within a specific website or domain

site:colgate.edu   or   site:.colgate.edu   or   site:.edu   

This operator placed directly in front and adjacent to a website name or domain (starts with a period) limits a search to that particular website or domain.

Proximity Searching

Colgate AROUND(4) Harvard

Retrieves web pages containing search terms within the proximity of a given number of words.  AROUND must be in capitals.

Search for pages that link to a specific URL

link:exlibris.colgate.edu   

This operator retrieves pages that link to the site specified.

Search for pages that are similar to a URL

related:joeyates.com or related:http://www.colgate.edu/academics/courseofferings       

Retrieve websites and pages that that are contain content similar to the queried website or page.

Search for words in the title of a web page

intitle:cosmic intitle:debris

Retrieves pages that contain the words cosmic and debris in the title of the page.

Search for words in the text of a web page

intext:josephen  intext:ratchet

Retrieves pages that contain the words Josephen and ratchet in the text of the page.

Search for alternate words

squirrel OR crayfish     

Use a capitalized OR between words and/or phrases to allow for ambiguity of search terms in a query.

Fill in the blank

If * stop then * go   or   "stand straight" and * then *     

An asterisk serves as a placeholder for any unknown or wildcard terms. Find variations an exact phrase when used with quotation marks or to retrieve different words in the middle of a phrase.  The asterisk will retrieve both single words and phrases.

Search for a number range

tuition $25000..$45000

Numbers separated by two periods without spaces (..) yields results that contain numbers in a given range of things like dates, prices, and measurements.